Smiling in the Shadows
by goldeneyes1
Summary: Out of the shadows emerges a girl from slytherin- a girl with every intent to leave her mark upon the school


A Smile in the Shadows

****

Stella is my character. The story line is mine. DO NOT STEAL IT! 

Harry Potter and Friends and his magical world belong to the wonderful JK Rowling.

Thanks Katie for beta reading this.

Stella's eyes bored into her professor's back.

"Sir," she said, her voice cracking with uncertainty, "sir," repeating with greater strength now, "may I ask you something?"

His pale face finally appeared, eyes squinting with curiosity, lips curled slightly.

"Please don't get angry when I ask yo-"

"Miss Goodridge if you do not proceed and ask me in a timely manner, I _will _get angry. Now- I do not have all day."

"Right," palms sweaty, heels rocking slightly, Stella parted her small, pink lips, "Well, I found a boggart in my closet and, well, I was wondering how a boggart would form in the presence of, er, a man with your strength of mind."

The man's face fell, his eyes opened in shock , then forcefully snapped into a glare, as a snake attacks its prey. 

"Miss Goodridge," his voice shook with fury, "that type of-"

"Don't," Stella interrupted abruptly, "I mean no disrespect to you, sir. If you do not want to answer the question I understand completely, but please, professor, do not get defensive." Stella curled her hand around the handle of her bag and started for the door, adding sincerely, "Thank you, professor."

"My father." The man's low, silky voice moved like a snake throughout the room, sliding gracefully, calmly over every crevice in the stony dungeon wall till it slithered, ever so carefully up Stella's still body and into her ear.

Breathing in, she turned, looked into her professor's piercing black eyes and headed towards the common room, smiling with pride.

***

Why he would answer such a personal question from anyone, let alone a student- Snape surely did not know. Perhaps it was the simple fact that the girl had even asked. No. That she had cared to ask. So why then was Stella Goodridge one of the only people Snape had ever trusted- Dumbledore being the only other? The girl was not extremely intelligent, nor quite pretty, nor quite anything really. In fact, she was mediocre in every sense of the word. So _why_ then did he feel different around her? His mind wandered to her words: "a man with your strength of mind". That was it. Respect. From the first day the girl had walked cautiously into his room she had respected him; she had trusted him. He, Professor Severus Snape, had done nothing for this student and still she looked up to him. When a strict man of his type- filled with coldness and passion in anger is expected to act like a gentleman, one must ask one's self "what else can he do?"

***

Stella moved to the corner of the Slytherin common room and sat in a creaky, lime green chair of inconceivably old age. It was, in a sense, reserved for her 24 hours a day for the simple fact that nobody else dared touch it. See - the wizarding world seems to have a sort of obsession with superstitions. Having heard from an unknown source (Stella in disguise, of course), the whole common room had the impression that the chair would curse people with a constant itch in numerous areas of the body. To push along the perception, Stella scratched her head with ferocity and then opened her Transfiguration book to pg. 573. (It must be noted that Stella did not scratch outside of her corner; scratching anywhere else would seem, to say the least, unhygienic.)

Five minutes later she slammed the book shut. Stella could not concentrate the slightest bit with Malfoy talking very loudly, his ghostly white hands warming over the fire, about what an idiot Potter was for diving to catch the snitch and winning the game for Gryffindor (why this was stupid nobody dared ask). The jokes were becoming a bit overused.

"Hey Draco," Stella approached the boy, speaking loudly, "You talk so much about Potter I'm beginning to wonder whether you have a crush on Mr. Mophead." The common room was quickly silenced, except for the sound of Goyle humming Christmas songs. Malfoy's sidekick had not noticed the insult.

Malfoy's jaw dropped in shock "Who's side are you on, anyway, Goodridge?"

"I don't know Malfoy," she twittered sarcastically, "he seems to do some pretty impressive stunts. Passing a dragon is usually considered a bit more exciting than getting bullied by a hippogriff. Don't you agree?" Stella smirked.

"You've got a lot of nerve sa-"

She raised her hand to cut him off and turned to the rest of the room, 

"Alright. Show's over." 

In a few seconds the common room filled with chatter again. Stella turned to Malfoy once more.

"Right. So, I wanted to get your attention, " she said frankly, "Do you want to go to Christmas Ball with me?"

"After short contemplation, Draco's head moved slowly up and down in a nod, several golden strands touching his forehead lightly with every movement."

Stella smiled. 

"K, 'night," she said cheerfully, squeezing Goyle's arm playfully so she could pass more easily. 

***

"Lumos." Stella closed the drapes around her four poster and took out a brown book. It looked brand-new except for the corners, which had been pushed in slightly, as though the book had been hidden in a tight spot. She ran her fingers slowly over the golden letters, tingling with excitement at the power her little book would hold inside. 

Take Control of Your Life And Everyone Else's: 

A Guide to Fooling Even the Smartest of Wizards to Reach Your True Potential

Making certain the curtain was drawn tightly around the bed, so no light passed through, she opened to the Index and read:

Chapter 1....First Impressions Must Be Squeaky Clean...................................PG 2

2....Make Your New 'Friend' Feel Good.................................................23

3....Read Their Strengths and Weaknesses To Pull Them In...................54 

4....Is Your Conscience Talking? Here's Why It's Wrong........................70

5....'All Good Wizards Have Morals': When Arguing Is In Your Favor...91

6....Person In The Shadows: Don't Let Them Think You Are A Threat...119

7....Getting Personal With Style..............................................................130

8....OH NO! I Think I've Blown My Cover!............................................154

9....I Have My Power Now What Do I Do With It And How?..................187

Author's Note....................................................................................205

"Many wizards use several of these steps by intuition. Once I read this book, however, I was more aware of my actions. Best of all, nobody suspected _me_ of anything!" -Jillian Peters 

PLEASE REVIEW! SHOULD I CONTINUE? GIVE ME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM PLEEEEASE!


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